A substantial increase in the use of computers has been seen in recent years, and along with this increase has come an explosion in the use of computer networks, e.g., a local area network (LAN) and a wide area network (WAN), e.g., the Internet, particularly the world-wide-web (WWW). Nowadays, a plethora of products and services are offered “on-line” over the various computer networks, which act as a communication conduit between a supplier (often referred to as a “server”) and a user (often referred to as a “client”) of the various products and services.
Often, in order for a user to utilize the information objects and services available on-line, the client computer of the user must have some minimum performance capability. For example, typical on-line services may require the client computer to have a particular processor family or later, a minimum display resolution, a minimum memory capacity, one or more peripheral devices or the like. The client computer may also be required to have installed thereon software components, e.g., a specific version of web browser, one or more plug-in modules, one or more dynamic linked libraries (DLL) or the like. Some on-line services, e.g., a service providing distant learning programs, which may involve transferring of a large amount of multimedia data, may require the client computer to have a minimum communication bandwidth capability. Software products available to be purchased on-line may have a compatibility requirement, e.g., a particular operating system, a particular processor family or the like.
Many of the on-line service providers and on-line software suppliers list the minimum performance/capability and compatibility information, respectively, from which a user may verify whether his or her computer has sufficient performance/capabilities for the particular on-line service, or whether it is compatible with a particular software product the user wishes to purchase on-line.
Unfortunately, a typical user of an on-line service or an on-line purchaser of a software product may not know the performance/capability of, or the software/hardware components installed on, his or her computer, and thus may not be able to accurately determine whether his or her computer is compatible with the on-line service or the software product. A user or purchaser often assumes that his/her computer is compatible, and, if the assumption was incorrect, experiences difficulties in accessing the services or in installing and running the software product. Because the user may be unaware which aspect of the performance/capability/compatibility requirement the user computer does not meet, the user may not be able to remedy the incompatibility problem. The incompatibility problem may even result in a fatal failure of the user computer, rendering it inoperable even after an attempt by the user to restore operability, e.g., by rebooting or the like, and may thus be inconvenient and frustrating to the user.
It is thus desirable for the on-line service and product suppliers to remotely determine the compatibility of a particular user computer directly from the user computer before the user attempts to utilize an on-line service or purchases a software product on-line.
Moreover, one particularly useful service available on-line is what is usually referred to as an on-line “help desk”, which provides technical support to a user, who may be experiencing difficulties operating the user computer. Typically, to utilize an on-line help desk service, the user would either ask a specific question, or provide information regarding the difficulties the user is experiencing, either over the telephone or on-line, e.g., through a dialog box provided in the website of the service provider or through an e-mail message or the like, to an expert technician employed by the service provider.
It is often very useful for the expert technician to find out what software and/or hardware components installed on the user computer in order to accurately diagnose the particular problem he or she is trying to solve. A typical user is however technically inept at supplying the necessary or desired information to the technician. It is thus desirable to provide a mechanism through which the expert technician can remotely query the user computer for information regarding the installed components thereon.
Known prior attempts, e.g, the on-line help service provided by Expertcity.com of Santa Barbara, Calif., to remotely query the user computer by an on-line expert technician uses a“screen sharing” program, similar to the well known PCANYWHERE™ sold by the Symantec Corporation of Cupertino, Calif. These so called screen sharing programs while allowing an expert technician to determine the installed components of a user computer, require the user to completely surrender control of the user computer to the expert technician, who may be free to gather information unnecessary for the technical support, and which may be confidential, sensitive or private. That is, through these screen sharing programs, the expert technician may view, copy or alter any of the files stored on the user computer, and, if, e.g., the user computer is connected to a network. e.g., a LAN, any file stored on any of the computers connected to the network. It is thus desirable that the query for the installed component be performed by a computer program written specifically for gathering the installed component information only, rather than turning the complete control of the user computer over to a human technician.
Thus, there is a need for a method and system, which allows an on-line service and software product supplier to remotely determine the performance, capability and/or compatibility of a user computer before the user attempts to utilize the on-line service or purchases the software product on-line.
Thus, there is also a need for a querying program that remotely gathers information regarding the components installed on a user computer, and provides the gathered information to an expert technician of an on-line help desk service.